Upholstery-machine.



N 89o 564. y PATENTEDJUNE 9, 190s. o I. KARPEN.

UPHOLSTERY MACHINE. APPLICATION IILBD AUG. 24, 1907. 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC KARPEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO S. KARPEN & BROS., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

UPHOLSTE RY-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1908.

Continuation of application Serial No. 341,584, dated November 1, 1906. 'This application filed August 24, 1907. Serial No. 390,024.

- construction.

My present application is substituted for the one filed by me November 1, 1906, Serial Number 341,584.

My primary object is to provide improved means for facilitating the application of the fasteners commonly employed for securing the fabrics, or coverings, of pads together at the edges of the pads.

The invention is usefully employed in connection with tu fting-machines for facilitating the operation of finishing the edge-portions of the pads. In such connection, one or more edges of the follower, or presser-board, of the tufting-machine are equipped with fastener-holders, comprising fastener-guides, or sockets, extending perpendicularly to the plane ofthe follower, the heads of the fasteners are received in said guides, and a pair of removable retainer-rods are employed to hold the fasteners securely in their guides during the operation of stretching the fabric over the prongs of the fasteners, after which the fastener-prongs are bent over, or clenohe d; and the retainer rods are then withdrawn to permit the follower to be lifted from the pad, the heads of the fasteners becoming thereby disengaged from the guides.

By preference, the mold of the tuftingmachine is of special construction, having removable edge-strips, or edge-rails, and means for stretching vthe outer covering (usually leather or imitation leather) over the bottom of the mold preparatory to ad iusting the edge-strips and inserting the filling or padding material.

The invention is illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l represents a plan view of a tuftingmachine with an upholstery pad in process of formation therein, the follower of the machine being provided at two of its edges with my improved fastener-holding devices and the mold having provision at the corresponding edges for holding the margins of the fabric or leather covering during the filling, pressing and tufting operations, it being noted, also, that the inner (shown uppermost) fabric (usually canvas) is shown extending over the rail at the left-hand edge of the mold, according to the view shown in Fig. 2, and .is shown foIded back at the opposite edge of the mold, according to the view shown in Fig. 3; Figs. 2 and 3, broken sectional views taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig. l, and illustrating diderent steps in the operation, as already indicated; Fig. 4, a broken edge-elevational view of the follower-board when equipped with my improved fastener-holding means; Fig. 5, a broken plan view of a vertically slotted metallic bar forming a portion of said fastener-holding means; Fig. 6, a broken view illustrating the manner of plaiting and perforating the leather to enable it to accommodate itself to the tufting and fastening operations; Fig. 7, a broken view of a leather fringe, or skirt, employed commonly in pad construction; Fig. 8, 'a view showing the manner in which the plies of the covering material and the fringe are joined together by the metallic fasteners employed; and Fig, 9, a perspective view of one of said fasteners.

In the illustrations, A represents a mold of a tufting-machine, said mold comprising a bottom a and removable edge-rails al; B, a follower, or presser-board, serving to compress the pad within the mold in the usual manner; B1, fastener-holders, or fastener-retainers, connected with two edges of the follower, and serving to hold the fasteners Z) during the tufting and fabric-fastening operations; and C, an upholstery pad in process of formation, and comprising an outer or top surface covering c, padding material c1, an inner or bottom covering c2, welts c3 (one shown), and fringes or flaps c4 (one shown), the coverings, the welt and the fringe being' joined together, in the finished product, by fasteners in the manner illustrated in the upper right-hand portion of Fig. 1.

The bottom a of the mold is equipped in the usual manner with means for effecting tufting of the mattress or pad and enabling the tufting fasteners to be ap lied. The means for producing this resu t are not shown in detail, inasmuch as said means are well understood in the art. In the illustration given, the bottom a of the mold is equipped near two of its opposite edges with upwardly-projecting pins a2 upon which the lateral margins of the top face covering of the mattress or pad are impaled, said margins being preparatorily provided with perforations for receiving the impaling pins. The bottom member a of the mold is provided near the same edges with upwardly-projecting dowel-pins a3 which enter sockets or perforations a4 with which the edge-rails a1 are provided. The edge-rails a1 of the mold are preferably provided at their inner sides with concave surfaces a5 adapted to give the desired conformation to the lateral edges of the pad or mattress.

The follower, or presser-board, B is-provided with the usual perforations b1 for enabling the tufting-fasteners b2 to be applied in the tufting operation. The follower is provided with perforations b3 which lit over upwardly projecting guide pins if* with which the bottom c of the mold is provided near its end edges. These guides serve to center the follower with relation to the mold. Each fastener-holder B1 with which the follower B is equipped comprises a metal bar b5 secured to a vertical edge of the follower and equipped with vertical T-shaped holderslots b,- and removable fastener-retaining bars or rods t7 extending longitudinally of the bar b5 and crossing the slots t, The retainer-bars 57 are entered in loop-form guides bs extending vertically across the outer face of the bar b5. The bar t5 is secured to the edge of the follower-board by means of screws b. Each retainer-bar t7 is equipped with a handle 510 and may be withdrawn by moving the bar longitudinally withrelation to the bar b5. The extremity tu of each re tainer-bar is lpreferably pointed to enable the bar to readily enter its guides. In use the retainer-bars t7 are horizontally disposed and are separated from each other by a small space Z212, said space being suflicient to receive the prongs 61" of th-e fasteners b. Each fastener b is provided with a head adapted to enter a T slot [JG of the bar b5, and the retainer-bars t7 serve to securely hold the fasteners in said slots during the operation of securing the edge-margins of the coverings of the pad or mattress together by means of the fasteners.

The pad or mattress C may or may not be tufted, so far as my present invention is concerned. Where the tufting is desired the top face fabric c is provided at its lateral edge margins with groups of perforations c5, each group comprising three perforations so arranged that when the covering material (usually leather) is plaited, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the perforations of each group are superposed and adapted to be received upon a sinOle impaling pin.

n Figs. 2, Sand 6 c represents a plait of the leather. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the purpose of plaiting the leather is to enable the tufting to be effected, the plaits furnishing the necessary stock in the leather to enable the leather to be pressed down into the filling of the mattress in a manner well understood. The tufting operation is greatly facilitated by stretching the leather upon the mold bottom in a plaited condition with the lateral margins of the leather impaled upon the pins d2.

In Fig. 2, c7 represents a flap or margin which is rovided at the lateral edge of the fabric c2 or connection with the fasteners t; and C8 represents a similar flap or margin adapted for connection with said fasteners. As shown in Fig. 7, the welt c3 and the fringe c4 are provided with registering perforations c9 adapted to receive the. prongs of the fasteners l).

From the foregoing description, the manner of forming the mattress or pad will readily be understood. Where the mattress is to be tufted the top face coverc is stretched, in plaited condition, upon the top surface of the bottom of the f'mold with the outer face of the covering down, the lateral margins of the covering being impaled on the pins a2. The side-rails el of the mold are then applied to the dowels a3. The paddingmaterial c1 is then filled in, the inner covering c2 of the mattress is then laid over the padding material and the follower-board put in place and pressure applied. The tufting operation is performed in the usual manner, and the fasteners t are then inserted in the slot t, the lower retainer-bars t7 being first put in place and( afterwards the upper retainer-bars being inserted to secure the fasteners firmly with their prongs pointing outward. The edgerails al are then removed, the Haps c7 are turned upwardly and impaled upon the prongs of the fasteners, and the flaps c of the covering c are then turned up and impaled upon the prongs. The fringe with the welt connected therewith is then applied and the prongs of the fasteners bent, as illustrated in the upper right-hand portion of Fig. l. The lower fastener retaining-bars are then withdrawn, thus enabling the follower-board to be lifted from the mold. The pad or mattress may then be lifted from the mold, inverted and applied to a couch, or to any article of furniture to which it is to be applied. In couch construction, the fringes c4 are turned outwardly after the pad is applied to the frame of the couch, and are then secured to the side-rails of the couch.

It will be obvious that while I have shown a follower-board equipped at only two of its edges with fastener-holders, said fastenerholders may be applied to as many of the edges of the follower as desired. The advantage of being able-to connect the edges of the .pad coverings while the pad is still in ber in a pad-forming machine of a fastenerholder having fastener-guides therein, and a.

the mold of a tufting-machine, will at once be evident to those skilled in 'the art. It likewise will be evident that this advantage will be present whether the mold be equipped with means for performing the tufting operation or not, the essence of the leading feature of my invention lying in providing a follower, or presser-member, of a mold with fastener-holding means, on the principle set forth.

It may be added that while I prefer to employthe fastener-guides perpendicular to the edge of the follower-board, which permits the board to be lifted directly from the pad, and the withdrawable retainer-rods crossing all the fastener-guides of each series, still these attributes of the invention are not to be regarded as indispensable. The fastenerguides may extend in any desired direction with relation to the edge of the followerboard, and any suitable expedient may be adopted for maintaining the holders in their guides until it is desired to remove the follower-board from the pad. For instance, in some cases, the retainer-rods may be dispensed with and the frictional contact of the fasteners with their guides depended upon to hold the fasteners in place until force is applied to remove the follower-board from the pad; or, individual retainers for the fasteners may be provided. The fastener-guides themselves may be formed and applied to the follower-board in any suitable manner.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no undue limitation is to be understood therefrom.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The combination with aV presser-memwithdrawable fastener-retaining bar crossing said guides.

2. The combination with a presser-member in a pad-forming machine, of a series of guide-slots at one edge of said member, and a retainer-bar crossing said guide slots.

3. The combination with a presser-element in a mattress-forming machine, of a series of fastenerguides extending across an edge of said element, and a pair of withdrawable retainer-bars crossing said guides.

4. The combination with a follower-board in a mattress-forming machine, of fastenerholding means, comprising a bar applied to one edge of the follower-board and provided with a series of transverse fastener-guides,

and retainers extending across said fastenerguides for locking the fasteners therein, for the purpose set forth.

5. In means of the character set forth, the combination with a presser-member, of fastener-holding means applied to one edge thereof, comprising a member provided with a series of transverse fastener-guides, and a pair of withdrawable retainer-bars connected with said second-named member serving to lock the fasteners in said guides.

6. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with a follower-board, of fastener-holding meanscomprising a bar applied to one edge of said board and equipped with a series of transverse guides, retainerbar guides connected with said first-named bar, and a pair of withdrawable retainerbars in said last-named guides, said retainerbars being separated by a space sufficient to receive the prongs of fasteners.

7. The combination of a mold having a bottom equippedat opposite edges with impaling pins, removable edge-rails connected with said bottom, and a follower-boardl equipped at opposite edges with fastenerholding means.

8. The combination with a followerboard equipped at opposite edges with fastener-holding means, of a mold comprising a bottom equipped at opposite edges with upwardly-extending impaling pins, and a pair of removable edge-rails supported on the upper surface of said bottom,for the purpose set forth.

9. Fastener-holding means for the purpose set forth, comprising a bar equipped with transverse fastener-guides for receiving the headed portions of fasteners, and a with-A drawable retainer-bar extending longitudinally of said first-named bar and crossing said guides.

10. The combination with a presser-ineinber in a pad-forming machine, of fastenerholding means applied to an edge thereof and adapted to hold fasteners with their prongs projecting from the edge of the presser-member, whereby the flaps of the upper and lower coverings and of the fringe may be impaled upon the prongs of the fasteners and said prongs bent into holding position before the pad is removed from the mold, as set forth.

11. The combination with the followerboard of a tufting-machine, of fastenerguides at the edges of the follower-board having channels for the heads of fasteners and channelsthrough which the prongs of the fasteners may project from the edge of the board, whereby the iiaps of the upper and lower coverings and of the fringe may be impaled upon the prongs of the fasteners and said prongs bent into holding position before the pad is removed from the mold, as set forth.

12. The combination with a presser-meinber in a pad-forming machine, of fastenerguides at an edge thereof extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of said presser-member, whereby the aps of the upper and lower coverings and of the fringe ers and said prongs bent into holding positionbefore the pad is removed from the inold, nels, through Which the prongs of the fasas set forth. teners may projectfroln the edges of said 13. Fastener-holding means for the genpresser-member, whereby the presser-niemeral purpose set forth, Comprising fastenerber niay be lifted from the pad7 after the fas- 5 guides with means for applying thein to the teners held by said guides are clenched.

edges of ahpresser-ineinber, said llastener- ISAAC KARPEN. guldes having channels for the lastenerheads which extend substantially perpendicular to the plane of the lnesser-ineinber and 10 `channels intersecting said. rst-nained Chan- In presence of- L. HEISLAR, R. SCHAEFER. 

